DeepFish

Looks like MS wants to please me these days or somehing :) After awesome test of PupFly I got to test DeepFish.

What DeepFish is is basicly a new way to browse the web via mobile device. The technology is somewhat similar to SnapPreview. When you want to navigate to some page, the request is sent to their web-service, the web-service generates a preview JPEG image and sends it back to you. The JPEG is way smaller than the actual page, so obviously it will take far less time to load it. Then you can zoom in and out on the page to read stuff etc. You can also use forms (it loads the actual page segment when you request it to).

Basicly - DeepFish is an awesome idea. But it's on a very early stages yet. Not everything is working, and obviously not the best user expirience. I bet when they are finish with this it will rock everybodies mind! :)

Got my invitation to PopFly!!!!

Wow!!! This think totaly rocks!! I'm moving boxes around like a child here! I think I'm going to move my blog to that place!!!

ttyl!!

PopFly (WOW)

Just a quick note on my evaluation of PopFly - a new Microsoft's service based on Silverlight. I did not even have the invitation yet, but even watching videos and looking around made me wow lots of times. Go check it out! http://popfly.com/

Good job here Microsoft. Let's what Adobe has ;)

Officially a WTF

Just seen my getTrue WTF was submitted on theDailyWTF.com. Fills good ;) Check it out!

http://worsethanfailure.com/Articles/Seeking-the-Truth.aspx

Radio station added

Just added a radio station to the top of the blog. You can come back here and listen to it whenever you want;)

Optimize for happiness

Recently I came across the idea of happiness optimization. It basicly says something like - do what you like to do - that way the product will be better, and you wil be happier.


I never concidered my self a great programmer. That is true. I never liked programming contests, as I'm not really sure what are those for. I beleive that a good programmer is a happy programmer. And that is it. Which is why I've decided to optimize for happiness.

Maybe I'm too much motivation driven, but I really think that satisfaction from the job is obligatory.

I really think that programmers should have life. If you ever read Douglass Coupland's "Microsofters" I think you'll know what I mean. By life I mean girlfriend, parties, trips, friends, etc. This is mandatory. Ofcourse there are nightly shifts etc, but programmer is a human beeing, and he/she should be able to have fun. Code shouldn't be the meaning of the life. Life should. I don't see the reason to write a good code by sacrificing even the smallest peace of your own life. Maybe opensource commnity will strongly disagree with me on that :).

I remember some interview with Linus Torwalds, where he was describing his first steps in programming. Oh common - who can think now programming on machine language can be fun? Obviously he can. I remember it was something like: "And look, I change this bit - and it moves! wow! cool!". Didn't we all had a simiar feeling? Don't we all love the possibilities thos machines give us in controlling themselves? Isn't THAT fun? Isn't THAT art or whatever you call it? Isn't THAT why we all are so into it?

One of the reasons I've started programming was to get more into various audio stuff, as I was keen of producing music. And it was really something - to hear those lines of code producing sound. That was my wow. That is my inspiration. I hate working without inspiration and I actually don'r remember if I ever did. I really don't know what was "wow" for those programmerв who love Database programming - that is like fata morgana to me. Man is that boring?


So this is my current position as to what should the work look like - work should be fun. Otherwise it's not yours and you will do a great favor to yourself and others by turning around and looking for something more suitable for you. I'm pretty sure this will change in future, when I will be a bit older and would like to have a static home and job. Right now that is not for me, so I've decided to quit SoftServe and register as an enterpreneur with a state.



Thanks to all of SoftServe employees for being patient to my weirdness that was bugging them sometimes;).

installed XPCOM components list

If anybody wants to list all XPCOM components installed on his/hers Mozilla platform - here is a small script. Embed it on the page and it will do the rest. It took me a pretty lng while to figure this out (I'm not very good with javascript and Mozilla), and in the end it appered to be so freaking simple!.. so maybe it will be useful for somebody like me.


Here it goes:
var numOfObjs = 0;
for (tmp in Components.classes)
{
document.write(tmp + "
");
numOfObjs++;
}
document.write("Found objects: " + numOfObjs + "
");



Same you can do for interfaces:


var numOfObjs = 0;
for (tmp in Components.interfaces)
{
document.write(tmp + "
");
numOfObjs++;
}
document.write("Found objects: " + numOfObjs + "
");



It still did not help me to get my registered class though - it appears to be not registered, but at least I see my interface..

What is Truth?

I've been maintaining one project yesterday. Found the real WTF - one of those you can read about on WTF


Basicly I think this function is meant to be executed in case you're lost in your life and don't know whum to trust and in similar cases. Get out religion - we're living in 21st century! We know how to find the way out when we're lost! Check it out: :)


private static bool GetTrue()
{
return true;
}

Ms Dewey

This girl totaly rocks!:)


Check her out. Google sucks nudles now:)

Microsoft Deepfish

Argh.

Microsoft has released a new technology for preview. And argh. I missed the train and now it's not available for download anymore.

Damn I would like to see that browser in my Qtek 8310!

If you know where to get it - let me know!:)


Have fun!

GlooTV alpha

GlooTV just announced they are in the alpha version. Quick look on the http://glootv.com gave me an impression of a pretty well done, all ajaxy. Can't say this is something I've been looking forward to find. It basicly has a list of all stuf you can see in a TV-show, movie etc. so that you could buy it. Cool idea though.

WTF?:)

I really think resting sometimes is the most productive way of spending time. I've been developing one DirectShow application today...and it was late-late night. Check out what happend: ;)




No effects here. I've just recorded my laptop's screen. :)

4 words: Developers, Developers, Developers, Developers

As I am now an employee of SoftServe Ltd. here is video I would like to post here that is sort of relevant to my new job. ;)

Vista Media Center vs TheVeniceProject

Well obviously these too are direct compatitores. Seeing some examples from CES I'm starting to think that TheVeniceProject is not really that great. If doesn't have the Sport chanels thing for example, that's when you can view info on other games, players bio etc. Obviously DirectX9 GUI won't beat the oh so cool Aero GUI..
Well yes TVP is extandable and it's not finished yet, but hey..it won't be bundled on millions of PCs all over the world and I really don't think that it can reach the Flash effect when everybody goes and download it.

So now that I think about it, I don't really see how TheVeniceProject is going to grow. The only way I see is a couple of good deals with good content owners and a good pricing policy maybe. But fighting with MS is tough, I think. Well, there were others VoIP solutions when SKYPE was starter, so maybe this time these guys can do a miracle again!

In the end, it looks like it all we come down to content. So I guess the time when the content owners will play the game and not the tech guys is pretty near...

The VeniceProject beta testing

Right after the GlooTV the "The Venice Project" team also sent me an invitation for a beta testing.

TVP looked REALLY cool. DirectX GUI, p2p streaming, intuitive interface. It looks like they currently support only Windows XP SP2, and there still are a lot of bugs, but in general it looks pretty cool. Even though I wasn't able to view any channel as it was intended to be (my ADSL is sooo slow) but seeing all the features they had in mind makes me think I will never have to buy TV again. :) Well only if I become HDTV fan, but not in the nearest feature. Also I am wondering if it will be free to watch the chanels or not (p2p anyway...could be free).

Cool thing is that TVP looked expandable (I've seen that there can be different plugins) and the GUI is a very fine looking.

I might post more info on my beta test later
Stay tuned!

GlooTV - ooops :)

GlooTV beta is almost out. They will be sending the invitation soon, but also they've release some more info on what GlooTV actually is.

This is their product review:

GlooTV is a search site for finding the products and services the consumer wants to buy. GlooTV is all about desire and fulfilling those desires. GlooTV, a set of interactive services that allows users to find products and services seen in their favorite television programs, movies, etc. Ever wonder where to purchase that stunning dress worn in Desperate Housewives? What about learning more about medical conditions mentioned in E.R? Now users find what they have seen and heard, or what is implied in a show, by searching for products in a specific episode, across all episodes, across multiple shows, and many other ways.


Sounds cool, but who knows how it actually works. We'll see in a couple of weeks!

And definatly that's not the p2p-centered thingy..:), like a wrote before. Wouldn't it be funny if the VeniceProject is also something like that?:)